I'm considering restoring a 5th gen. Elky and I'm not sure where to start on the interior. It's been sitting up for about 12 years now. Luckily, it's under a carport. I'm not sure what year it is, but I think it's an 82'. This was my wife's grandfather's when he was still living. It's black with tan/gold SS stripes on the lower panel. The interior is tan and is in serious need of help. I believe there's mold, insects, and a ton of dust which will need to be cleaned out. What's the best thing to do in this case? Should I just clean it all out or should I just start from scratch with it and replace everything visable? I'd like to do a nice custom job on it. Maybe even get a professional to design/create a newer more updated interior. What do y'all think? :?

Well first, I guess you should decide what color interior you'd like. Do you want to leave it tan or change it to another color? Is the dash board in good shape, or is it cracked? Would you like bucket seats or a bench? Is cost a factor in this?

As far as color goes...I'm drawn more to a grey/charcoal combo. So, yes, I'll prob want the interior color changed. Also, the seats are coated with mold, so I'll prob have to replace them anyway. If that's the case, I'll put bucket seats in instead. The dash is still in fairly good shape. Cost is not that big of a factor. I plan on taking a loan out and just doing all of the work at one time. My main concern is if painting/dyeing the dash and panels will be do-able if there is a good deal of mold on them. I suppose I'll have to spend a good amount of time cleaning them. What should I use to do this?

For a start I'd say:

1. Remove all of the plastic and metal trim and set it aside to be cleaned and possibly reused.
2. Remove the seat(s), carpet, window/door weatherstripping, and headliner and throw them all away.
3. Take a good, long look at what else needs to be done like floor replacement and rust repair.
4. Have a beer and evaluate whether or not you should throw away the rest of the Elky too.

:mrgreen:

Thanx! Sounds like good advice. 8O Anything that's worth doing is worth the time/$ spent doing it. That's the way I'm looking at this. I'm almost scared to open the door. The last time I went over there and looked at it, it was pretty bad off. The body of the Elky is in great shape though. I can always 86 all of the interior components and start from scratch...several thousand l8r. :lol:

Dying the dash the color you want is probably going to be the biggest task. If the dash is in good shape, (no cracks) you might want to dye it while still in the vehicle. This will require a lot of patience and masking anything that you don't want overspray on...remove those items if you can. If the dash is in poor shape you might want to replace it, or cover it with a full face dash cap, either of these can be dyed outside the vehicle. All the plastic trim pieces that are salvageable should be removed, cleaned, and dyed outside of the vehicle. Purchase a quality molded carpet, the color you want. If you want buckets, try to find a set out of a donor car at a boneyard from a 78-87 GM G-body that are in fair or better condition. You will also need the seat tracks. There are kits made to recover them in the color you want (gray). If you have a split bench seat in the car now, the four brackets per seat welded to the floorboards, will match up to the buckets...if the buckets came out of a G-body. If you have a straight bench (no split) you'll need the inner brackets from the donor car also, These will need to be spot welded in, do this before you install the new carpet. The headliner can be taken out and recovered in gray...be careful it is just made of styrofoam and cracks easily, new ones are available made of ABS plastic and are mush more durable. Now get started and let us know how it's going. :)

That's good news! :D I will be getting started soon. I just don't know where to start with this. I've never restored a vehicle before and I'm no mechanic. First thing's first, I need to get it running again. Setting up for...hum...about 10-12 years now it might be an interesting task. As far as the interior goes, I have several ideas. Has anyone ever customized an Elky before? I've only seen one or two with interiors that are customized. I thought about updating the look. What l8 model vehicle could I use to replace the dash with? Impala? Monte Carlo? Camero? Anything? I'd love to have a totally unique Elky. Thanks for the info!!! 8-)

Check out my customized ride at okhuskers.com/elmpala. I still have to post my new interior pics. I customized the dash for autometer white faced guages before I had it recovered.

Tell you what I did was just did it. The beginning starts with "Starting." Just jump in and do it. Figure out what to keep and what to chunk when you see what condition it is all in. If you can afford to throw it away and it is a POS then get rid of it. If not keep it and restore it. Other option is to sell the pieces you pull out if they're in good shape.

I'm doing an 80 and I kept a bunch of junk from it for a while after I started tearing it down then realized "Why?" I wasn't going to use it again so I had it hauled off. Engine, Transmission, seats, old plastic pieces, old carpet/insulation, you name it, it went the way of the Dinosaurs.

Just a thought.

If I end up doing the work myself, I'll prob keep as much of the usable interior parts as possible. Cost wise, it would be best if I just use a dye for the dash and just change out the door panels, carpet, steering wheel, and seats. Oh, by the way, nice mods elmpala! 8-) Did you have to get different seat mounts for the Corvette seats? That's a very nice touch. I'd like to do two tone bucket seats, maybe, some seats from a newer car. I'm getting pumped to start working on mine. I just have to sell my 89' Mazda pickup and I'm on my way. I'm starting this weekend cleaning up the interior/exterior on my Elky. Oh, I forgot to mention...I looked in the glove box and found the owner's manual. It's a 1980 not a 1982. :oops:

The width on the C5 seats is the same but the tracks are 6-7" longer so I had to make a bracket to fit in the depression to level out the seats. No big deal and they are comfortable.

ELCORLA is looking great, Nick!
-dan

Comfort is definetly a plus! I'll have to look into which seats I like the best. :)